Bruins Notebook: Fine day for Thornton

BOSTON — The latest controversy — and one of the more bizarre ones — in the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry came to a quick close Sunday morning, with Shawn Thornton being fined and apologizing for squirting water at P.K. Subban one night earlier.Subban was skating by the Boston bench in the final minute of the Bruins' 4-2 win when Thornton shot fluid from his water bottle at Subban, who said it hit him in the visor. Thornton had a big grin on his face as Subban protested to referee Eric Furlatt.On Sunday morning, the NHL fined Thornton $2,820.52 for unsportsmanlike conduct. It's the maximum fine allowed under the collective bargaining agreement with the players and is equal to one-half of one day's salary for Thornton."I obviously got caught up in the moment," Thornton said. "The fine, I'll pay the fine. Obviously I agree with what the league does there. I'm sorry that this silly incident kind of overshadowed how my teammates played and the great win and how good this series has been. There's definitely more important things that we can focus on."I got caught up in the moment and I probably shouldn't have done that. (I'll) move on and get ready for Game 6, pay the fine and hopefully have a good showing."Thornton, who did not speak to the media Saturday night, spoke to reporters for about 40 seconds Sunday and did not take questions."As a coach, you always want to support your players, but there's certain things you can't support," said coach Claude Julien, adding he spoke to Thornton about the incident. "I don't think I can support Shawn on those actions. I don't think we like seeing our players do that. Whether he got caught up in the game or whatever, to me he's got to own up to it, and that's all I'm going to say about it."Ducks star Corey Perry squirted water inside Kings winger Jeff Carter's glove during Game 2 of the Los Angeles-Anaheim second-round series. Perry was not fined for that incident, which occurred during a break in play.Thornton's actions were more serious, however, occurring while Subban was in motion.Combined with the money lost from his 15-game suspension for attacking Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik in December, Thornton has sacrificed $87,435.97 for on-ice actions this season.

Lining upThe Bruins' No. 1 line didn't score a 5-on-5 goal for the fifth straight in the series Saturday, but Julien sensed that the group of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Jarome Iginla was "starting to turn the corner."Iginla scored a power-play goal, and Lucic had a game-high seven hits, including two thunderous ones on Alexei Emelin. Lucic also wrestled with Subban and flexed his muscles for the Montreal star from the bench."Just because they're not scoring doesn't mean they're not producing," Matt Bartkowski said. "(Saturday), I noticed (Lucic) was a whole different animal. He was putting fear in their 'D' and that's what he does."The still had the worst possession numbers on the team and has yet to click offensively. Krejci has just one assist in the series."We need our best team to close out this series," said Julien, "and if those guys can find their rhythm that's going to be a big help to our team."

Held downBartkowski has been called for five penalties in three games this series, four of them for holding. In Game 5, he was sent to the box twice, once for holding Lars Eller in the first period and then for holding Subban in the third."The one on Subban's a penalty, I know that," Bartkowski said. "I'd rather not talk about the other one."Bartkowski also drew a hooking penalty on Max Pacioretty in the first period by using his speed to get around the forward. …The Bruins had an optional practice, with only players who didn't play Saturday participating. The skaters included Jordan Caron, Chad Johnson, Andrej Meszaros, Corey Potter and Dennis Seidenberg.Dan Cagen can be reached at 508-626-3848 or dcagen@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanCagen.